Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1566227,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1566227/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 277,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "of counties. In the original proposal, which perhaps was the real people's proposal, we proposed to have bigger regional tiers where planning, coordination and legislation could be exercised. However, implementation of development could be done at the county, ward and village levels. My proposal in no way takes away the county tier. However, I would like to see a situation where we deal with this kind of nonsense, where a 10-Member Assembly is dealing with 36 advisors and 31 chief officers. That mess is replicated across counties. Governors must prove to us that they are responsible and prudent and will stop wastage. We went to Uasin Gishu County over the weekend. We found projects worth close to Kshs2 billion stalled, despite almost 60 per cent of the funds having been committed. A hospital should be a place where there are drugs, doctors and services. It does not matter, it could be a tent. There is no reason for a county to spend Kshs600 million on brick and mortar and call it a hospital. Yet there are no doctors, medication, vaccines, or even snake antvenom. Governors must convince us that they will be more prudent. Madam Temporary Speaker, governors must convince us that they will tame their appetite for corruption. I have seen a few governors taken to court. Having looked at the reports of the Auditor-General, even some of the amounts that are being put on the governor’s heads is just like spare change, when you look at some of the things that the Auditor-General is reporting. I was happy, I saw last weekend the Catholic Church, I believe was running a campaign of having triple-deckers in Kenyan cells. It is a very good idea because we will need triple-deckers in cells if we are serious about corruption. We will need to have many more governors, over and above the two or three that we have seen. Governors must convince us that they have the interests of the people at heart and it is not just the interest of their stomach. Governors must convince us that their revenue collection systems do not have backdoors which have some algorithms that divert money into their accounts. We will stand with a higher allocation to county governments, not because this is money going to governors, this is money going to the people living in counties and constituencies. I want to encourage the National Assembly that we should never look at this thing as a county versus national Government thing. The people benefiting from these resources, the Kshs465 billion that we have proposed, reside in those constituencies and wards. They are members of this country called Kenya. The national Government should not have a problem if county governments then become the theatre of implementation for the Kshs465 billion, unless there are other interests that they are looking at, by holding some of these resources upwards. However, governors must convince the nation that that they will take measures against the 20 per cent that I reported to this House that has been lost through corruption and wastage, in the fiduciary risk report that I brought here on 27th of March. Governors will come and go, but the people in the counties will remain. Let us legislate for our people. Let us not legislate for the leadership. I strongly oppose the Kshs405 billion proposal and support the Senate's position to grant counties Kshs460 billion, which is consistent with our agreement as a broad-based Government arrangement. I thank you. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}